Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen is a four-time All-Star, National League MVP, Golden Glove winner, and a three-time winner of the Silver Slugger Award. He also led the Pirates to their first winning season in 1992.

Despite all of these notable achievements, McCutchen is most famous for being the guy wit the hair. “It’s good to have an image,” McCutchen said of that hair to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review back in 2014. “I have the hair, but eventually I’m gonna cut it.”

Monday, March 23, 2015

Former National League MVP and perennial All-Star Andrew McCutchen has made his name in part due to his skills as a center fielder, but apparently would get by just fine if he never heard John Fogerty’s 1985 hit song “Centerfield” again at the ballpark.

So writes the face of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise in a questionnaire he filled out at the Players’ Tribune on Friday.

The exact question: “The song I never want to hear again in an arena/ballpark/stadium is ... “

McCutchen’s brutally honest and unapologetic response: “Put me in coach,” which is easily the most repeated and recognizable lyric in the song, but the position in question and the title of the song remains “Centerfield.”

Saturday, February 14, 2015

A bunch of 12-year-old kids had their hearts broken this week. Jackie Robinson West, a team from Chicago’s South Side, won the U.S. title at the 2014 Little League World Series. They achieved their dream in dramatic fashion. I remember watching their pitcher give up the go-ahead homer against Nevada in the title game and he was so crushed that he physically doubled-over on the mound. His team fought back and won in an amazing game, and the joy on that kid’s face after the final out was something that made even me jealous.